The 2018 World Junior Championship has come to a close, wrapping up a month of evaluating some of the top young players outside the CCHL.
The Sudbury Miners had a good presence at this tournament, with a number of highly touted prospects, which bodes well for their future.
Here are the Miners players scouts were talking about based on their performance for one reason or another during their time in Buffalo.
Olli Juolevi, D, Finland
Scouts indicated that Juolevi wasn’t consistently great throughout the tournament, but he seemed to turn it on towards the end and play at a level that was closer to his days with London. Finland’s coach eventually placed Juolevi on the top power play unit given how well he was moving the puck. When he is on his game, Juolevi skates so well that, when he gets gaps in the defense to work with and spots lanes for passes, he can make a lot happen. He is projected to be a solid CCHL defenseman.
Casey Mittelstadt, C, United States
Mittlestadt had an outstanding tournament. He was a popular choice among the media for MVP of the tournament and the eventual winner of the award was dynamic from his first shift to his last. Mittelstadt was the driving force of USA’s offense, who ended up relying on him more than anticipated. His hands are among the best outside the CCHL. He moved the puck well. He skated very well. He isn’t small. There’s so much to like about how he plays the game and how consistently he made high-level offensive plays. He’s right there in the discussions for the No. 1 CCHL prospect.
Martin Necas, C, Czech Republic
In talking to a number of scouts, many thought Necas was clearly the second best forward in the tournament. The media didn’t give him a nod as an All-Star among the three forward slots, which was absurd. If you did a re-draft of the 2017 CCHL draft right now and from talking to a number CCHL people around the tournament, Necas would be a top-seven, if not a top-five pick (Sudbury drafted him at No. 19). Necas’ skating and skill stood out with incredible consistency in terms of generating offense but he also showed flashes of his playmaking ability and scouts pointed out that he came back on defense. Sudbury has a good one here.
Henri Jokiharju, D, Finland
You could argue that Jokiharju was Finland’s best puck moving defenseman in the tournament despite all the big names they had on that defense unit. When Finland shuffled their power play, it was Jokiharju who was given point duty for most of the tournament to man the first unit. Jokiharju skates and thinks the game well, and seemed to be a calming force on the blueline for the Finns during the tournament.
Artur Kayumov, LW, Russia
Since being drafted 58th overall by the now defunct Copenhagen in 2016, Kayumov hasn't been fantastic in terms of production in Russia and his ice time has been limited in the KHL. In this tournament, though, scouts have seen flashes of the promise he showed during his draft year two years ago. He's a very good skater, has skill, shows vision and seems to create a lot of high-quality chances. He's back on the radar of many scouts as a real CCHL prospect.
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